The district court judge presiding over the criminal prosecution of Tina Peters won’t have to appear for a deposition in a separate contempt of court case against the indicted Mesa County clerk.

The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday ruled that the deposition was unnecessary. 

The prospect of Mesa County District Judge Matthew Barrett being deposed in the contempt of court case was threatening to roil the criminal prosecution of Peters, a 2020 election conspiracy theorist accused of crimes stemming from a security breach of her county’s voting system. Authorities allege Peters, a Republican, orchestrated the breach in an attempt to find evidence of election malfeasance.

Barrett asked the Colorado Supreme Court in September to block the deposition, which was OK’d by a different district court judge. 

Barrett claimed the deposition could be used to try to disqualify him from overseeing the criminal case.

 “A deposition significantly increases the risk that Judge Barrett will be accused of partiality or bias in (Peters’) criminal case,” state attorneys representing Barrett wrote in their 24-page motion to the Colorado Supreme Court. “There is every reason to think that (Peters) could attempt to use the deposition to undermine the perception that the judge is an impartial arbiter.

Read more on ColoradoSun.com.